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When the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins kicked off a three-game home stretch on Wednesday, it marked an opportunity to send a message.
Facing a Hartford team that is two spots below the fourth-seeded Penguins in the Eastern Conference, Wednesday’s game marked another matchup against a possible playoff opponent.
That’s why the 4-3 win was crucial not only for the two points, but to possibly send a message when the postseason arrives.
“(Hartford) is a really good, high-offensive team with a lot of skill up front. You can see the way they make plays in the zone and off the rush,” said goaltender Jeff Zatkoff, who stopped 37-of-40 shots in Wednesday’s win. “We beat them three out of four this season which is something to keep in mind because they’re a possible first round playoff matchup for us.”
Tonight the Penguins face another possible playoff opponent in the Worcester Sharks. Worcester sits in fifth place in the conference and trail the Penguins by three points. In their only meeting this season, the Sharks defeated the Penguins 4-0 in Worcester on Jan. 17.
But that doesn’t mean the Penguins aren’t a confident group entering the weekend.
‘Wednesday’s win was huge,” said winger Dominik Uher, who had two goals. “We’ve been kind of inconsistent with our game lately so this was a big first step. We have to make sure we play the same way for these next two games.”
NOTES
– D Taylor Chorney was scratched on Wednesday. Head coach John Hynes said the move was made in anticipation of a call-up to Pittsburgh.
– F Jean-Sebastien Dea was reassigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton from Wheeling on Thursday.
– G Matt Murray was selected as the CCM/AHL Goaltender of the Month for March, marking the second straight month he has won the honor.
Murray was 7-1-1 in nine appearances during a record-breaking month of March, posting a 1.21 goals-against average, a .955 save percentage and three shutouts.
Murray began the month with a pursuit of history, blanking Bridgeport on Mar. 1 and Manchester on Mar. 7 for his third and fourth consecutive shutouts. Early in the second period at Springfield on Mar. 8, Murray established a new AHL record for longest shutout streak, and extended it to 304:11 before finally allowing a goal late in the 4-1 victory. Murray made 26 saves in a 3-1 win over Hershey on Mar. 14 to run his personal winning streak to nine games, and his 32-save effort at Lehigh Valley on Mar. 22 was his 10th shutout of the season, breaking a 72-year-old record for shutouts by an AHL rookie.
In 36 appearances for the Penguins this season, Murray is 22-9-3 and leads the AHL in goals-against average (1.59), save percentage (.940) and shutouts (10). A third-round draft pick by Pittsburgh in 2012, the 20-year-old rookie from Thunder Bay, Ont., played four junior seasons at Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) before making his professional debut with Wilkes-Barre at the end of the 2013-14 campaign.
Murray becomes the first goaltender in the AHL to earn this honor twice in one season since Brad Thiessen also accomplished the feat for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2010-11. The last player to win consecutive Goaltender of Month awards was Philippe Sauve in February and March of 2002 for the Hershey Bears.